Punishment and Escape.
It was ten o'clock when we were driven through the gates of our home.
Father had only just returned from London, so he had been spared the
long hours of agony which mother had passed after missing us at the
usual tea hour.
What a miserable party we must have looked as one by one we got out
of the cart. Of course, I was last; and as father lifted me in his
arms, he caught sight of my hand, which had been bandaged by the
doctor at Craigstown, and was now in a sling.
"It's only my little finger, father," I said; "I shan't miss it."
Then I remembered that, of course, he knew nothing that had happened,
and said no more. No prisoners in the dock ever felt more wretched
than we did, as we stood in the dining-room wondering what would be
our fate. My gentle mother came to the rescue.
"I'm sure you must all be starved; eat your supper first, and then
tell us what you have been doing."
I tried to eat; but every mouthful seemed to choke me, and mother's
sorrowful look at my maimed hand, and tenderly whispered words of
love were almost too much for me to bear. I felt how wicked I had
been to give her such pain as she must have borne since she went
upstairs and found our den empty, then heard from one of the farm
labourers that he had seen us in the boat.
My cousins were stronger in mind and body than I was; and although
they looked conscience-stricken enough, they managed to eat a hearty
supper. When the things were cleared away, father put down his
newspaper, and called us to account.
"Now, what have you to say for yourselves?" he asked, in a stern
voice.
I looked up and began to speak, but Rupert stepped forward and
silenced me.
"I'm the eldest," he said, "and all the blame is mine. I'll tell you
about it, sir."
Something in the honest face, now pale with fatigue and excitement,
yet made noble by its fearless expression, seemed to touch us all.
"You'd better sit down," said father, less sternly; but Rupert took
no notice. With eager words, which seemed to come rushing out, he
described our adventures as far as you know them.
"When the rope broke," he continued, "I thought it was all up with
us. Edric fainted for the second time, and I thought he was dead. I
knelt down then and prayed God to forgive me for what I had done, and
let me die, too, and to take the others safe home; but the fishing
smack came along almost directly, and one of the sailors caught hold
of our boat. They lifted us all into their boat; and we lay down
amongst the fishes and nets and lines, and went to sleep, I believe,
till they landed us at Craigstown pier. One man, Philip they called
him, took Edric to the doctor to have his hand done. It had begun
bleeding again almost directly we got in the boat; but Philip bound
it up splendidly. Then we got into that cart, and here we are. I
don't know what you mean to do to us, uncle; but I'd like to tell you
we are all bitterly sorry, and will go back to school tomorrow if you
wish it."
"That won't put Edric's finger on again, or cure his back if you have
hurt it by those hours of exposure. Do you know he hardly ever goes
out except in the long perambulator, which is pushed as gently as
possible?"
"Please, uncle," said Jack, who had been fretting at the long silence
to which Rupert had condemned him, "I don't think we did him any
harm, except about his finger. He knelt up in the boat once."
"Perhaps you'll try to make me believe that he can do better with
nine fingers than ten. Well, you can go to bed now. I cannot send
you back to school because Mr. Barton has gone abroad and there is no
one there, so you will have to remain here for the rest of the
holidays. You have prepared means of barricading your tower-room; I
shall use them on the outside instead of your using them on the
inside. You will be locked in there for two days. Your meals will
be brought to you, and you will be let out to go to bed; but until
Thursday night you are my prisoners; and I expect you to be
honourable ones." Father glanced at Rupert as he spoke; but Rupert
made no sign.
"Will Edric come, too?" asked Kathleen.
"Not exactly. I think he has been punished enough. You will not see
Edric till you are released from prison. You can all go now;
good-night."
With bent heads and dejected steps my cousins left the room, but
mother went after them; and I heard afterwards that she did not say
good-night to them till she had joined them in asking God's
forgiveness, and in thanking Him for the great mercy shown to us all.
What a wretched day the next one was for me. I could not read, and I
hardly felt inclined to talk even to mother. I thought of the
prisoners in the tower-room, and wondered what they were doing. The
day was so long, and my hand was rather painful, so that at last when
tea-time came I felt quite cross and miserable.
"Don't you think I might go upstairs for a few minutes," I said to
mother when she came in with her bonnet on; "it's so dull."
"I am sorry, darling, I must go out, but I shall not be gone more
than half-an-hour. Here's a book you have not read. The time will
soon pass, and you will be able to go upstairs again; but you must
not disobey father."
I did try to read, but I could not. I was not quite happy, because I
felt that there was something unfair in my cousins being punished and
my being let off with only a finger less. At last I turned round on
my sofa and had what Jack called "a little weep."
A light touch on my shoulder startled me--Jack stood by my side.
"Oh Jack! how could you?" I whispered; "you have broken your word of
honour."
"That's what Rupert says, so he is sticking up in that room, fretting
himself to fiddle strings. I never promised anything, and so I'm not
bound to stay there. I nearly broke my neck corning down, my foot
caught in the ivy. But what do you think I found out? There's a
regular ladder up to one of the windows on the side that looks
towards the water-mill."
"A ladder! Nonsense; how could a ladder be there without our seeing
it?"
"Oh! you matter-of-fact creature. I don't mean a ladder of wood or a
ladder of rope thirty yards long. I found that there were little
places cut in the bricks just to put your toes in. I counted six of
them; but there was a noise, and I didn't dare to count any more.
How are you, old man? They all want to know badly; they seem to
think we had almost killed you, but I know better--I believe we did
you good. I must go now; if uncle found me here he'd eat me."
"Wait a minute. What did you say about those steps? I wonder
whether---- Do you know both our servants left last year because
they said the place was haunted? Of course it was all rubbish,
because there are no such things as ghosts, but nothing that mother
could say would make them happy; they said if it wasn't ghosts it was
burglars or smugglers, and off they went."
"What a joke!" said Jack, standing close to the window; "that's the
way the ghost went up and down, then. Hush! who in the world is
that? There's somebody in white creeping among the rhododendron
bushes. I'm off. Cooee, cooee!"
The Australian cry sounded weird enough, and I gasped for breath as I
saw Jack's figure disappear at full speed among the rhododendrons.
An instant afterwards there was a scream, and then dead silence.
[Illustration: Chapter VI tailpiece]
[Illustration: Chapter VII headpiece]